Materials Science Division

Head of Division : March 2020 - March 2024

Prof. Federico Rosei - Canada

INRS CENTRE FOR ENERGY, MATERIALS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Federico Rosei received MSc (1996) and PhD (2001) degrees from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. He held the Canada Research Chair (Junior) in Nanostructured Organic and Inorganic Materials (2003–2013) and since May 2016 he holds the Canada Research Chair (Senior) in Nanostructured Materials. He is Professor at the Centre Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Varennes (QC) Canada, where he served as Director from July 2011 to March 2019. Since January 2014 he holds the UNESCO Chair in Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage. Dr. Rosei’s research interests focus on the properties of nanostructured materials, and on how to control their size, shape, composition, stability and positioning when grown on suitable substrates. He has extensive experience in fabricating, processing and characterizing inorganic, organic and biocompatible nanomaterials. His research has been supported by multiple funding sources from the Province of Quebec, the Federal Government of Canada as well as international agencies, for a total in excess of M$ 16. He has worked in partnership with over twenty Canadian R&D companies. He is co-inventor of three patents and has published over 340 articles in prestigious international journals (including Science, Nature Photonics, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., Adv. Mater., Angew. Chem., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Adv. Func. Mater., Adv. En. Mat., Nanolett., ACS Nano, Biomaterials, Small, Phys. Rev. Lett., Nanoscale, Chem. Comm., Appl. Phys. Lett., Phys. Rev. B, etc.), has been invited to speak at over 325 international conferences and has given over 240 seminars and colloquia, over 60 professional development lectures and 40 public lectures in 45 countries on all inhabited continents. His publications have been cited over 13,600 times and his H index is 60.

Officer : March 2020 - March 2023*

Prof. Steven De Feyter - Belgium

KU LEUVEN

Steven De Feyter received Msc (1993) and PhD (1997) degrees from KU Leuven, Belgium, in the group of Prof. F. C. De Schryver. After a 2 years postdoc at Caltech (Prof. A. Zewail, he returned to Leuven. Since 2011, he is full professor at the Department of Chemistry (KU Leuven). From 2012 till 2016, he served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry (KU Leuven). Since 2010, he is associate editor of the RSC journal Chemical Communications. His research interests are nanochemistry and supramolecular chemistry on surfaces. Self-assembly on surfaces is a central theme of his research, with a focus on the relation between structure and function. Recent research activities cover a broad range of topics such as two-dimensional crystal engineering (e.g. formation of nanoporous surfaces, chirality at interfaces), templating, dynamics and reactivity. These studies aim at bringing insight in the fundamental aspects of molecule-substrate interactions and molecular organisation on surfaces, as well as the formation and use of these nanostructured functional surfaces (e.g. 2D materials). The liquid-solid interface is a preferred environment to induce self-assembly. Also biomolecular systems (DNA, proteins, their complexes, etc.) are investigated, with a focus on those that are involved in disease related processes. Scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy techniques are particularly useful to probe the structural, dynamic, and electronic properties of these surface-confined molecular systems. In 2013, he was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant.

*Extension of the mandate until March 2024 approved

Officer : March 2020 - March 2024

Prof. Paolo Colombo - Italy

UNIVERSITY OF PADUA

Paolo Colombo is a professor of Materials Science and Technology at the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. He is also an adjunct professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, a visiting professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of University College London, UK, and a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College (UK). He was a Foreign Scientist at INSA, Lyon, France in 2015, and a DGF Mercator Professor at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany in 2016. He was elected Academician of the World Academy of Ceramics, Academician of the European Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Fellow of the European Ceramic Society. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for the Pennsylvania State University in 1991, the Pfeil Award (The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, London, UK), the Global Star Award (The Engineering Ceramics Division of the American Ceramic Society), the Edward C. Henry Award (The Electronics Division of The American Ceramic Society), the Verulam Medal & Prize (The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, London, UK) and the Global Ambassador Award (The American Ceramic Society). He published more than 270 papers in peer-reviewed journals, is the Editor-in-Chief of Open ceramics (ISSN: 2666-5395) and is in the editorial board of 9 international scientific journals. Paolo Colombo’s research interests include novel processing routes to porous glasses and ceramics (currently focusing mainly on Additive Manufacturing, using different technologies), the development of ceramic components from preceramic polymers and geopolymers, and the vitrification and reuse of hazardous industrial and natural waste.

Officer :  March 2023 - March 2027

Prof. Paolo Samori - France

UNIVERSITÉ DE STRASBOURG

Officer :  March 2023 - March 2027

Prof. Claudia Felser - Germany

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE CHEMICAL PHYSICS OF SOLIDS